Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Revolution Gone Awry This evening I want to express some doubts about military transformation. Since transformation has acquired an aura of unassailable virtue, I suppose I should begin by saying that I am not a Luddite. I teach the emerging-technologies class in Georgetown’s [Read More...]
Air Power: The Arithmetic of Victory (and Defeat) Issue Brief Next year will mark two important milestones in the history of American aviation. It will be the 100th year since the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, and the 50th year since an American soldier was last [Read More...]
Carrier Adrift: Delaying CVNX Has Big Consequences Issue Brief The Pentagon’s latest Defense Planning Guidance identifies four weapons programs as candidates for cutbacks in the 2004-2009 spending plan. The Navy’s candidate is its next-generation aircraft carrier, CVNX (“CV” for carrier, “N” for nuclear, and “X” for experimental). [Read More...]
Reducing Raptor: This Is Transformation? Issue Brief The Pentagon’s senior civilian leadership is leaning toward cutting the department’s commitment to the F/A-22 Raptor multirole fighter. It’s a little hard to know what the emerging plan means, because there would be only minimal changes to the [Read More...]
Military Transformation: Ahead of the Curve, or Behind? Issue Brief Last week the U.S. Army and five other organizations sponsored a conference concerning how to cope with the new security environment. The Eisenhower Conference was an ecumenical affair, as reflected in the fact that the Office of Net [Read More...]
Transformation, or Ideology? Bush Administration Needs Reality Check Article published in Defense News On August 21, as President Bush’s summer vacation was winding down, senior Defense Department officials traveled to Crawford, Texas to brief the chief executive on military spending plans. In a dozen densely-packed charts, the Pentagon’s [Read More...]
Raptor’s New Designation is Long Overdue Issue Brief Who says the Air Force isn’t agile? Next week it will finally get around to fixing the misleading name of its next-generation fighter, and it only took a decade of deliberations to decide. The Raptor stopped being just [Read More...]
The Bush Doctrine Op Ed published in The Wall Street Journal During its first year in office, the Bush administration seemed to be struggling to find a strategic concept that would distinguish its security posture from what had come before. Aside from its [Read More...]
Navy Strategy for Buying New Sub Wastes $Millions Issue Brief Here’s a quick quiz to test how much you know about the Navy’s role in the war on terrorism. Which category of warship — aircraft carriers, destroyers or submarines — has seen the greatest surge in operational requirements [Read More...]
The Nuclear Posture Review: A Necessary Evolution in National Strategy Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to offer my views on the administration’s Nuclear Posture Review. I’d like to spend a few minutes this morning explaining why [Read More...]
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